PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is making a surprise trip to riot-hit New Caledonia, the French Pacific territory that has been gripped by days of deadly unrest and where indigenous people have long sought independence. “He will go there tonight,” government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the president said he’d decided to make the more than 33,000-kilometer (20,000-mile) round trip himself to the archipelago east of Australia. Six people have been killed, including two gendarmes, and hundreds of others injured in New Caledonia amid armed clashes, looting and arson, raising new questions about Macron’s handling of France’s colonial legacy. There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks who seek independence for the archipelago of 270,000 people, and descendants of colonizers and colonists who want to remain part of France. |
U.S. stocks tick down as Apple drags tech sector lowerPeople visit Inner Mongolia Science and Technology CenterMajor lithium reserves discovered in SichuanChina's 5G phone shipments top 167 mln in 2020: reportChina's research vessel finishes monthChina calls for better coordination to stabilize shipping in Red SeaPeople visit Inner Mongolia Science and Technology CenterStudy links pesticide to breathing problems in children living near farmsCuriosity mars rover begins studying Vera Rubin RidgeChina launches new Earth observation satellite for environmental monitoring